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3

is it time to start accepting some answers?
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ChrisSep 15 '10 at 18:12

I have seen many more subjective questions get closed that were more relevant to the sites objective than this. No offense but how is this relevant to professional programmers.
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OminusJun 4 '11 at 2:47

If you don't produce code, you are no longer neither a "Software Developer" nor a "Programmer", but some sort of "Software Bureaucrat" (or, in my company speaking, a "blah-blah-man"). It's like a medical doctor that, instead of doing medicine, does administrative work in a hospital or in the Department of Health...
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LorenzoSep 4 '10 at 12:00

1

@lorenzo I do a lot of profiling and code analysis, in order to improve quality, especially performance-wise. I usually dont write code. I dont do any administrative work. I think "software developer" still fit as a general description of my job.
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OlivvvSep 8 '10 at 22:27

4

@Lorenzo, I believe Fishtoaster was saying that producing code is part of producing software. He works on producing the whole, not just the part.
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Matt OlenikSep 14 '10 at 1:06

I used to use the standard boring answer, "programmer" or "coder" or the like. I switched sometime in the last year.

Now, I tell people that I am a writer for a small local company. When they ask what I write, I tell them I write software.

Most people don't understand the process of software development. In a small company, we generally end up hitting the whole spectrum of software creation, and I think that "writing" is the best description for how we create usable software.

In the case where I know I'm talking to a geeky person, I just tell them that I "write software".

Usually I say "software developer", because it's my actual job title. (Never just "developer" except to other techies, since there are lots of industries where "developer" means something else entirely, e.g., real estate.)

Sometimes I say "programmer" or "computer programmer", especially if I'm talking to people who might not be familiar with the term "software developer".

I state that I am a Software Engineer, and depending on the technical background of the person asking I further define the specialty as a C++ developer. And if they are developer's crack some programming jokes.

Which is also for some reason a really good way to see what level of developer they are :)

I always try to be elusive just saying that I'm an employee: if I say that I'm a software developer everyone would ask me to fix their PC.

I try to explain that I'm not a PC technician and that I develop embedded software, but that doesn't stop people to bother about their slow computers and other silly question about PCs, e.g. recovering data from wiped or damaged HD or pendrive.

By the way, I'd like to call myself a code monkey, but unfortunately I always have too bad or lacking specification and design, so I'm forced to also think instead of just coding!

I can imagine the scene. I guess most people (outside of sofware developers) think that software is synonymous of computer; they don't make a distinction between hardware, and software. They then don't understand that there is software in something that is not a computer (TV-tops, for example).
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kiamlalunoSep 4 '10 at 15:59

3

this time I agree with you lorenzo. Usually I hide the whole programming thing. It would just kill the conversation. If I have to talk about what I do, I immediately mention that I know nothing about spyware and viruses
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OlivvvSep 8 '10 at 22:31

I'm a software developer.

Then they normally follow up with a nod that says that means I can't fix their virus ridden Windows 98 machine. Which is the goal.

I'm talking to peers I will say I normally do Java / PHP development, server side applications, and then just because I can I'll throw a buzzword laden sentence at them.

I normally use MongoDB and Node.js to communicate through WebSockets and HTML5 to draw Canvas graphs indicating the time of day in seconds since epoch; but I would love to be using Redis to support Web 2.0 dynamic based sites in jQuery and CSS.

For fun with other software engineers I know I tend to go with "Code Poet"! (We had a long running joke/debate in our office about whether we were Code Poets or Code Ninjas. I think in the end we were all losers ;)).

And for marketing... Blue-sky-solutioneer, because they're mental and like made up nonsense titles. That last one is a joke. Honest.

For most people I simply go with Software Engineer, occasionally Software Designer - I never use Programmer or Developer.

To most people I simply say I'm a programmer. Sometimes I say I'm a Software Developer/Software Engineer (which is my actual job designation where I work) when the person I'm saying this to isn't a programmer himself.

I prefer using the term programmer. That word basically covers everything I do, including architecture, testing etc. - and emphasizes the most important part. I've actually been using the word even when I was a student and only programmed for fun.

I usually tell people that I'm a developer, and then explains them what my speciality is...like at the moment GIS (which makes everybody look weird cause they have no clue what it is).

One thing I stay away from is my "educational" title cause that doesn't mean a thing to me. It's more important for me to tell people that I working in solutions that gloating over a fancy pancy title (which I ofcourse don't have and don't want). When ever I've been at places where I've gotten businesscards I've always told them to make them say developer :)

I say I'm an embedded firmware developer. Then I briefly explain what that means, by giving examples of ordinary devices that have microcontrollers in them (e.g. microwave oven, automobile cruise control, DVR etc.).

Most of the big wins I've had are to do with not writing software - either advising not to start projects which are too far from the company's core discipline, ensuring good source control and automated testing praxis, preventing duplication with cross-team buddies, or doing clever stuff with generative programming.